General Grabbers

[BOJANGLES]

I like the red out on the pictures I've seen. Very interested to see how these due since it looks like my stockers are starting to chunk out with less then 2000 miles on the clock.

you may also have defective stockers. Even if you're gonna get new tires anyway, I'd recommend taking them to the dealer, showing him and asking what they can do about it. After all, you did pay for an initial set of tires that were supposed to last longer than a couple of months. Just my $.02

 

[pirate air]

you may also have defective stockers. Even if you're gonna get new tires anyway, I'd recommend taking them to the dealer, showing him and asking what they can do about it. After all, you did pay for an initial set of tires that were supposed to last longer than a couple of months. Just my $.02

Yeah I hear ya. I actually work at a Ford dealer. I'm a tech, but not primary for Ford. I'm waiting for the Ford service rep to come by next time so I can show him.

The thing I don't like about the generals is the fact that they will probably suck on the ice and compact snow. So I would need to use the BFG in the winter and rotote to the generals for the summer. But if Ford wont help me on the BFG's then I will be looking at finding a better year round tire or buying two sets of tires, the generals and then something better for winter. OR I might just try siping the generals if I get them. Decisions decisions

I LOVE the look of the red letter out Generals so thats really ******** with me up.

 

[BentToast]

Well it depends on how often you go off road. I know most dirt tires dont last more than a few hundred miles when driven hard. If its normal use, the tires should show no more than 10% wear for the first 10k miles

 

[pirate air]

Well it depends on how often you go off road. I know most dirt tires dont last more than a few hundred miles when driven hard. If its normal use, the tires should show no more than 10% wear for the first 10k miles

This will be my third set of BFG a/t's. One set is on my Bronco and the 2nd set is on a 4runner I just sold. Neither the Bronco nor the 4runners chunk apart like the ones on my Raptor. The runner and Bronco both got/get there fair share of off road abuse. Dunno if these are defective or due to the "special" compound that is used in the Raptor tires. Either way I don't find chunks of tread coming off in dime size pieces normal, or acceptable.

 

[BOJANGLES]

This will be my third set of BFG a/t's. One set is on my Bronco and the 2nd set is on a 4runner I just sold. Neither the Bronco nor the 4runners chunk apart like the ones on my Raptor. The runner and Bronco both got/get there fair share of off road abuse. Dunno if these are defective or due to the "special" compound that is used in the Raptor tires. Either way I don't find chunks of tread coming off in dime size pieces normal, or acceptable.

x2 I have the exact same problem Pirate. I've mentioned it in other threads, but the wear that mine are seeing is without question abnormal. I've also had 2 other sets of BFG a/t's and they were solid, these have been a joke. I'm primarily convinced mine are defective due to the fact that they have 1/3 of the miles that the same tires have on Julian's Raptor while running basically the same terrain, and his look fresh while there is barely any all-terrain tread left on my rears and my fronts aren't much better. That old 4Runner I'm working on has BFG a/t's with 40,000 miles on them that have been through lots of jobsite abuse and they look 100 times better than the tires on my Raptor with 6,000 miles.

I showed them to my dealer, I did not raise a fuss at all, but merely showed them to him and calmly asked "do you think this is a safety issue?" he absolutely agreed, said he'd never seen tire wear anything like this, took photos, submitted them to Ford and then called a few days later confirming they would be replaced for free.

Toast, the situation Pirate and I (and others I've talked to) are experiencing is not about running hard terrain or abusing the tires....... these things are legitimately defective. There seems to be a bad batch of these Raptor BFG's out there and Pirate and I have some of them.

 

[IRONMAN]

I've also had 2 other sets of these BFG on my other F-150 and they were great. The ones on my Raptor now see about 99.5% city driving and they look like shit as well, already. Not impressed

 

[BentToast]

Yeah you got bad BFGs, I was just checking the situation. My dirtbike normally goes through a brand new rear tire in about 5-6 trips, but in certain conditions Ive eaten it in 2 trips. Ive had some tire tread issues too in the beginning at about 6k miles. Make sure you rotate every 5k miles like the manual sugests, thats a vital service on these things

 

[BOJANGLES]

Yeah I hear ya. I actually work at a Ford dealer. I'm a tech, but not primary for Ford. I'm waiting for the Ford service rep to come by next time so I can show him.

The thing I don't like about the generals is the fact that they will probably suck on the ice and compact snow. So I would need to use the BFG in the winter and rotote to the generals for the summer. But if Ford wont help me on the BFG's then I will be looking at finding a better year round tire or buying two sets of tires, the generals and then something better for winter. OR I might just try siping the generals if I get them. Decisions decisions

I LOVE the look of the red letter out Generals so thats really ******** with me up.

The reviews I've read have shown them to perform average to above average in the cold stuff. That's what sold me on those tires, they don't really have a big weakness according to the reviews. Siping could also only help.
What makes you think "they will probably suck on ice and compact snow"???

 

[pirate air]

The reviews I've read have shown them to perform average to above average in the cold stuff. That's what sold me on those tires, they don't really have a big weakness according to the reviews. Siping could also only help.
What makes you think "they will probably suck on ice and compact snow"???

The lack of any siping on the tread blocks makes me think they wont do good on ice and compacted snow. I think they would do fine in deep snow. Which I think is what the magazine editors are testing them in. Could be wrong though.

So shop forman called the service rep on my tires and his reply was "must be the way i'm driving it". I can all ready see where this is going.

 

[BOJANGLES]

The lack of any siping on the tread blocks makes me think they wont do good on ice and compacted snow. I think they would do fine in deep snow. Which I think is what the magazine editors are testing them in. Could be wrong though.

So shop forman called the service rep on my tires and his reply was "must be the way i'm driving it". I can all ready see where this is going.

I would suggest going through forums and printing some of the threads like this one where other people have mentioned abnormal tire wear. Take them in, and even if they don't read them, or claim that they can't prove the posts are real cases of tire wear, at least they're seeing that you've done more research on the subject than they're average customer. Take pictures of your tires and a written explanation of the scenario..... the fact of the matter is, its easier for the dealer to make something up or blame it on you than it is for him to actually go through the process of filing the claim. People are lazy.... if you've got the photos and explanation in hand that he can submit to Ford, he may be more inclined to actually do it.

If this approach doesn't work, I would suggest that you ask to speak to someone in charge at the dealership (like the General Manager) and tell them that you think its a safety issue. Give them the photos and explanation, tell them you have a safety concern with their product, and if they won't make it right then you would like something in writing explaining why. Once you start asking for things about safety in writing, it's like you've brought to their attention the fact that you may be going to a lawyer on this without having to come across as a threatening **** or even using the word "lawyer". Start insisting that all communications with this person be sent back and forth via email so that you have a documented paper trail, but do it politely. They will know what you're up to, but also won't just write you off as some crazy irate customer. If you continually press the matter via email, express the fact that you know in your heart that the abnormal tire wear isn't your fault, and you're not going to give up on the issue and will use every resource available to you to achieve satisfaction.... the GM will probably realize its going to be a lot less time consuming for him to get you some new tires. If he still won't play ball, take all of this documentation and find a way to get it to the owner.

Unfortunately I went through some serious back-and-forth for several months on a similar scenario with an M5 that I used to have. I ended up having to go above the GM/Minority Owner's head and was able to eventually get in touch with the Earnhardt family (yes those Earnhardts) that are the majority owners of the place. They ultimately heard me out and agreed to a fair solution.

The point of this rant is that I found a way to achieve satisfaction from a dealer who at first would not play ball, and never once did I have to raise my voice at anyone or threaten a lawsuit to get what I wanted. I just had to show a hell of a lot of persistence. That may be more trouble than you're willing to go through for a set of tires, but its all about how much it means to you. Ultimately most people will eventually do right by someone who is approaching them with a problem in an educated and persistent manner that is backed by evidence and a decent attitude. If they don't wanna do right by you at that point, then they're probably still willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of you.

My Old Man always advised me that it's unfortunate that at times you have to play hard ball in business to get what you're fairly owed, but if you do it the right way while getting the message across that you're not just going to roll over and accept "No", then you may not always win, but you will likely have a damned fine-looking batting average.